


Rough Silence

by Psychedelicfreakout



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-15
Updated: 2013-01-15
Packaged: 2017-11-25 14:15:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/639719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psychedelicfreakout/pseuds/Psychedelicfreakout
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry’s hearing impaired daughter calls nine-nine-nine when her dad has a seizure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rough Silence

**Author's Note:**

> Dipping my toes in the One Direction fandom as a writer.

Doctor Spencer saw these cases a lot. A perfectly healthy individual coming in with no prior health problems having a seizure. There were many reasons why the person could be having a seizure and the most common was with an otherwise healthy person is because of a recent blow to the head or an infection the person isn’t aware of. So when a man that looked to be in his thirties was wheeled in with his young daughter jogging along next to the gurney, he had to think it was one of those reasons. 

The man was unconscious and his daughter was standing off to the side, her mouth ajar as if she wanted to say something but no sound was coming out. They really didn’t allow younger children in the room with their parents, not even if the child was behaving. It was just in case things escalated and the patient needed to be moved quickly. 

“Nurse Stone?” Doctor Spencer turned to the young woman writing things down on a chart. “Would you take this young lady out of here and ask her what was going on before the seizure occurred?” 

Nurse Stone nodded, settling her clip board down on the counter next to her. “Come with me, honey,” She addressed the young girl with curly brown hair mirroring her father's. But she didn’t move, she continued staring at her father, her hands gripping the railings on the gurney. “Honey?” Nurse Stone tried again, laying her hand on the girl’s shoulder. 

The girl looked up. She pointed to her father and then started making rapid motions with her hands. That’s when Nurse Stone realized she must be deaf. 

“Doctor, she can’t hear me, she’s deaf.” 

Doctor Spencer sighed, “Alright. Take her out in the waiting room and see if you can find someone who knows sign language.”

Nurse Stone nodded again, taking the young girl’s hand in hers and leading her out of the trauma bay area. The girl kept looking back her father lying on the gurney where nurses were taking blood from his arm. Nurse Stone could tell she wanted to run back and jump onto the gurney with her father, but she didn’t. She stayed with the nurse. 

The young girl sat down in a chair in the waiting room and Nurse Stone walked over to the front desk. “Ella?” She asked the woman sitting behind the desk. “Can you check and see if anyone in the hospital knows sign language?”

“Yes, of course.” Ella got up and walked toward a back room. Her voice was soon heard over a loud speaker asking for any who knew sign language to come to the front desk in accident and emergency.

It didn’t take long for an older woman of Japanese descent to walk up. Nurse Stone recognized her from the children’s ward, which was even better. The woman held out her hand. “Hello, I’m Nori.” 

“Hello Nori,” Nurse Stone replied. “I have a patient that came in just a few minutes ago after having a seizure. The only one that was with him at the time seems to be his daughter, but she’s unable to communicate with us.” 

Nori nodded, walking alongside the nurse. “I’ll see what I can find out. This must be her?” She asked, coming to a stop in the waiting room. The young girl was still sitting where Nurse Stone had left her, staring down at her arms and playing with the multicolored bracelets on her wrists. 

She looked up, looking between the both of them. Nori smiled gently, making a motion with her hands. The young girl sat up straighter, her hands moving quickly. 

“Her name is Ruby.” Nori said, sitting down in one of the chairs. “And she wants to know how her dad is.”

Nurse Stone then realized she didn’t know. She hadn’t been back to check on Ruby’s father. The last thing she knew about him was the other nurses had been sending his blood down for testing. “Tell her he’s going to be just fine.” 

Nori did, and then turned to Nurse Stone again. “Can you ask her what happened before her had the seizure?”

Ruby took a few minutes to minutes to explain. Her hands moving slowly as if she was trying to find a way explain what had been going on. “She says her dad has been ill for the past few days. He’s been in bed with a fever and her papa left to get some medicine when the seizure occurred.” 

“Who called the emergency line?”

Ruby took off one of her bracelets after Nori signed to her, a small thin rope with a round charm hanging off of it. Nurse Stone looked at it carefully. On one side it had a red cross on it and the other side had a message written on it. _In case of an emergency, call 999._ Her mouth dropped open slightly. “You did? Wow, that’s…” She didn’t know what to say. She was amazed that the young girl hadn’t been hung up on. Someone might have thought she was kidding. And there was an emergency texting line for those who were deaf, but she supposed Ruby would be too young to know how to use it. 

“Do you have any family members you call during an emergency?” She asked next.

Ruby unsnapped a bigger bracelet this time, handing it over to the nurse. She read the metal plate, _Ruby Styles, hearing impaired._ On the back of the plate it had two numbers, one for _Uncle Zayn_ the other for _home_. 

“Can I call your Uncle Zayn?” 

Nori signed to Ruby and the girl nodded. Nurse Stone started to stand and Ruby began to sign again. “She wants you to call her house phone. She says her Papa will be wondering where they are.”

“Alright,” Nurse Stone walked back toward the front desk, carrying both bracelets in her hand. Nori stayed behind to keep Ruby company. “Ella, may I have the phone?”

The receptionist put the phone on the counter top. “Did you find anything out?”

“It seems her father has been ill for a few days; he’s had a high fever. It could have something to do with that or medication he’s taking. Could you go back and tell Doctor Spencer the patient’s been sick? I’m sure he knows by now, but…” 

“No problem.” Ella replied, getting up from her seat and walking in the direction of the trauma bay. 

Nurse Stone punched in the uncle’s number first. She wasn’t quite sure if Papa meant _grandpa_ or if it meant her other father. Either way, she had a feeling it would be better to call the uncle first. Most close family members did have a freak out when they learned a loved one was in the hospital. 

“Hello?”

“Hello, is this Zayn?” 

“Yes it is, who’s calling?” 

“This is Nurse Stone from King's College Hospital. I got your information off of Ruby –“ 

“Is she alright?” He cut in. 

“Yes, she’s fine. She called the emergency line about half an hour ago. Her father had seizure. We think it’s a fever seizure. Could you possibly come down and be with Ruby?” 

“I’ll be right there. Have you gotten ahold of her papa or is he there?” 

“I haven’t talked to him yet, no. Is this the patient’s father or -?” 

“No, it’s his partner, Louis.” Zayn replied, a jiggle of keys could be heard on his end of the phone. “He’ll be really worried if he comes home aren’t home. Anyways, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Nurse Stone hung up the phone and was about to dial Ruby’s home number when Ella sat down behind the desk again. “Did Doctor Spencer say anything about the patient’s condition?” 

“His blood tests came back a few minutes ago. His blood sugar was very low. Doctor Spencer seems to think that might have caused his seizure,” Ella said. “He’s on a glucagon IV drip now. Did you talk to anyone in his family?” 

“I called his daughter’s Uncle Zayn. It might be his brother or something.” Ella looked down at her desk, her cheeks flushing. “What is it? Do you know them?”

Ella shook her head. “It’s stupid. I know _of_ them.” Nurse Stone raised her eyebrows. “The patient in there was in a boy band about twelve or so years ago. I was about sixteen and crazy about them. They disbanded to become family men.” She said. 

Nurse Stone smiled. She dialed the second number on the bracelet and waited. She could imagine what the patient’s partner was going through. She’d be having a panic attack if she came home from work and her kids were gone without a trace. 

“Yes, hello?” Someone answered seeming out of breath. 

“Hello this is Nurse Stone from King’s College Hospital – “

“They’re there aren’t they?” The man – Louis – said. “Shit, what happened?” 

“Your partner had a seizure almost an hour ago. He’s going to be fine; his blood sugar was really low. Your daughter is here too, she’s the one who called the emergency line.”

“Ruby called –“ Louis said, sounding surprised. Nurse Stone supposed he would be regarding the circumstances. “Never mind, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” 

Nurse Stone hung up, handing the phone back to Ella. “Both should be here soon,” she said. “In the meantime I’m going to check up on my other patients.”

* * *

“Excuse me?” Ella looked up from her computer to find Zayn Malik standing behind the counter. If it had been twelve year ago, Ella would have jumped across the counter and hugged him. Instead she just smiled. “Do you know where I could find Ruby Styles?” 

“Oh, yes. She’s around the corner in the waiting room with a staff member of ours.” Ella replied, “Can you give these to her?” She held up the medical bracelets. 

Zayn took the bracelets from her. “Yeah, thank you.” He rounded the corner into the waiting room where Ruby was sitting with a woman, signing to each other. He was grateful that they had found someone that knew sign language. Ruby knew how to write, but like every six year old spelling wasn’t one of her strong points. 

Ruby suddenly jumped up, running over to Zayn and jumping into his arms. She didn’t quite have a smile on her face; she looked more relieved if anything. She also looked exhausted and Zayn wasn’t surprised after all she’d been through that night. Ruby pulled back a little and quickly started signing to him. _Where is papa?_

_He’s on his way._ Zayn signed back. Ruby nodded, laying her head on Zayn’s shoulder. He sat down across from the woman. “Thanks for staying with her.” He said, gently rocking back and forth in the chair. 

“It was no problem; she’s a lovely little girl.”

Louis walked in the waiting room a few minutes later. “Thanks for coming,” He said, leaning down to press a kiss to Ruby’s hair. “I talked to one of the nurses and she said Harry’s awake, if you want to come with me and see him.”

Zayn nodded. “Sure. I think Ruby should see him too.” 

Louis glanced at Ruby when Zayn stood up, brushing the mass of curls back from her face. Her eyes were closed and her arms hung limply off of Zayn’s shoulders. “She’s asleep. It’s about her bed time anyways. Do you want me to carry her?” 

“It’s alright, I got her.” 

Louis led the way toward the trauma bay, pulling one of the curtains back. Harry was sitting up partially in the bed, an IV stuck in his left arm. He smiled weakly when he saw Louis and Zayn enter the make-shift room. “Hey.” 

“Hey Haz.” Louis perched himself on this side of the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Very tired.” Harry replied hoarsely. “I don’t remember much; just that Ruby and I were watching some cartoon on the telly with talking cats. I was sweating a little, but I thought maybe it was because of the fever.” Harry looked up toward Zayn. “One of the nurses said she called the emergency line….Can I have her?”

Zayn walked over and carefully settled Ruby down on Harry’s left side. Ruby groaned softly, her eyes opening slightly. When she saw Harry, her eyes snapped open and she threw an arm around his middle, a smile on her lips. With one hand, Harry carefully brought a hand to his lips and then away again signing the words, _Thank you._

Ruby brought her hand up tiredly, signing the words, _You’re welcome._


End file.
